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ChatGPT puts this tech in the hands of everyone. You don’t have to be an expert to use it.” Gonzaga warned: “There


are concerns about security. I’m passionate about the technology, but it brings risks. “These models trawl all


the data out there and don’t consider data protection. You have to consider the risks and limitations.” He dismisses fears of a


‘Terminator’-style AI robot evolving, saying: “We’re far, far from that. The threat is from humans using the technology in a bad way. “Everyone dealing with AI


has to have concerns.” Yet he insists “there are


tons of applications for travel” and suggests three to begin: personalising offers; transforming dynamic pricing using real-time data; and developing sustainability through more efficient use of energy and resources, planning layovers, transfers and so on. He describes Der Touristik


as exploring the use of generative AI step by step “to figure out what can be done” and foresees its use initially “as an extension to the customer app, an extension to the online bot, and in other communication channels with customers”. Gonzaga notes: “We just


launched a new app in the Nordics that gives us the ability to experiment with ChatGPT. It will help us personalise experiences and we’ll be able to communicate better using new types of bots.”


Viable alternatives to jet fuel ‘still decades away’


Ian Taylor


Long-haul flights will remain the major source of aviation CO2 for “the foreseeable future”, with no alternative to kerosene for long-haul travel likely for decades other than sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). That is according to a report on


‘The challenge of long-haul flight decarbonisation’ by European air traffic management body Eurocontrol. It notes long-haul flights –


operating more than 3,000 kilometres (1,864 miles) or roughly the distance between London and Istanbul – accounted for 9% of UK and EU departures in 2019 but 54% of aviation CO2 emissions, a share tipped to rise to 60%-plus by 2050. The study considers potential


alternatives to jet fuel or SAF – battery, fuel cell, hydrogen, methane, ammonia and solar energy – and what each would involve in powering a widebody flight from Paris to Singapore. It concludes: “We are a long way from being able to use any of these


Alternative fuels ‘would require colossal electricity’


All the potential alternative aviation fuels would require “colossal amounts of electricity” to produce them, according to Eurocontrol. The organisation calculates UK


and EU fuel requirements would mean between 10% and 23% of all EU and UK electricity generation being used to power aviation.


46 31 AUGUST 2023


technologies.” Electric batteries in their current form “would make a long-haul flight too heavy to take off” and require a “massive step-change in battery density”, involving trebling energy density in each of the next three decades. Liquid hydrogen would require


long-haul aircraft be fitted with large ‘cryogenic’ tanks capable of remaining below -253C for 14 hours or more. Hydrogen fuel would also produce “significant contrails and potentially NOx [nitrous oxide] . . . considered the most important non- CO2 contributors to global warming” from aviation. Liquid hydrogen also


The extent of decarbonisation


would depend on the ‘carbon intensity’ of the electricity used to produce the fuel. Wind-generated power could reduce aviation CO2 by up to 96% compared with jet fuel, but coal-sourced electricity would multiply existing CO2 emissions by between three and 11 times. Eurocontrol warns this energy


demand is “extremely unlikely to be met given the political considerations and industries competing for the same power source”. It all but rules out electric- powered long-haul flight, with


An A380 widebody aircraft


presents “inherent risks” due to its flammability. Liquid methane would be easier to


handle but poses technical challenges as well as significant climate risks, since any leakage would contribute at least 30 times more to global warming than CO2 over a century and 82 times more over 20 years. Liquid ammonia, produced from


‘green’ hydrogen using renewable energy, would also be easier to handle. It’s not explosive or corrosive and produces no CO2. But ammonia vapour is “highly toxic” and it would require “excessively heavy” aircraft, double the take-off weight of an A380. Eurocontrol rules out solar


energy, noting the solar panels required to power an Airbus A380 would not only cover the entire aircraft but require an additional 7.4 kilometres of panels. It concludes: “A widebody


powered by any of these technologies cannot be expected in the foreseeable future. Significant progress is not expected for decades.”


safety “a major showstopper” of battery-powered aircraft, not just because current lithium batteries are “highly flammable” but because a long-haul version would weigh almost double a Saturn V space rocket used in the Apollo space programme. Eurocontrol rules solar-powered


widebody flight “impossible to envisage under any circumstances”, noting that solar panels covering the entire surface of an A380 would provide just 0.17% of the power needed to take off, or 0.02% on a cloudy day.


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PICTURE: Shutterstock/Lukas Wunderlich


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